Little Owl family values

Sorry for the radio silence over the last couple of weeks; while the weather has been pretty glorious, a really hard stint at work has left me completely shattered, so days off have been mainly recovering!

We have managed a few short excursions to some of our local sites, with varying results. I got really frustrated when, after I'd spent several hours patiently in position waiting for the water voles to visit a particular spot I'd lined up with a series of shots in mind,  an extended family of noisy kids appeared, just as the male was climbing out where I wanted him. I'm all for kids getting interested in nature & wildlife -after all, that's how I got started - but needless to say, I was not best pleased with their grandparents for encouraging them to run over to see what I was looking at! Nevermind - next time. We did get to see 5 different individual voles while I was waiting - my 'usual' male, plus a female with two youngsters, and interestingly another huge male which I haven't seen before. I hope I get to catch a closer view of him again soon.

I mentioned in one of my recent posts that I'd been really pleased to see the lonesome male Great Crested Grebe I've been observing for the last 2 or 3 years on a private lake had finally found a mate. Sadly, when we paid the pair a visit at the weekend, it appears that their eggs have either failed or been predated. However we did witness them doing a short courtship dance, followed by the female getting into mating position and they seem to be constructing a new nest, so hopefully they may succeed with a second clutch. There are also two pairs of Little Grebe nesting along the same stretch, who were having a massive barney, as one of the more distant pair kept trying to cross the near pair's territory & they were not having any of it. The mute swan pair are doing well, with half a dozen signets all growing strongly at present. Also lots of moorhen & coot chicks of varying sizes keeping their parents very busy.

Great-crested Grebes - Ready to mate

A quick early evening drive around the Aldbourne area gave me a fairly close encounter with a lovely Roe Deer buck, now looking rather splendid in his russet summer coat. I'd also hoped for a few hares, but the difficulty is that the grass & barley crops are now so high in their favoured fields that it is nigh on impossible to spot them! We saw a couple towards the field margins, but too much in the way to be any good for photos.

Roe Deer - Buck

I also checked out my local Little Owl sites at the weekend- we had good views of one of the birds from a pair nesting in a hollow oak, but no sign of any owlets out & about yet. 

On the subject of Little Owls, on Tuesday evening I was lucky enough to be able to do a session at a private hide with a breeding pair and their youngsters. I spent the whole evening there, and had both parents visiting a post in front of the hide throughout the evening - and was able to play with a few different settings, particularily as the light changed as the day wore on. I got some great views of the parents feeding the youngster in a nearby tree. The 3 owlets were very active, hopping up and down the tree with lots of energy, so I'm sure they'll start exploring the wider world very soon. A great session with one of my favourite birds to photograph - I had a whale of a time, & already wondering if I can squeeze another visit in over the next few days. 

Female one of the Owlets

Woodland wildlife

We had been half thinking about a trip down to Skomer Island in Pembrokeshire today, to see the Puffins & other nesting seabirds. However, a poor forecast last night, coupled with general over-tiredness & a lack of appetite for a 2am wake-up call found us a bit closer to home this morning. 

After a slightly more civilized start, we decided to head over to a small woodland hide in South Woscestershire. It's usually good for a wide range of woodland birds, and for me, the main attraction is probably Muntjac deer, which are fairly regular visitors.

On the drive across, we had quite a few raptor sightings, including the inevitable Buzzards, several Kestrals and a possible female Red-footed Falcon. We also saw several Jays flying across the road, as we passed through wooded stretches.

While we didn't have any Muntjac during our session today, it was still a pleasant way to spend the morning. I very much enjoyed watching the antics of a pair of Red-legged Partridge, and a rather dapper Pheasant - accompanied by a veritable harem of females. 

Male Pheasant

Red-legged Partridge

Red-legged Partridge

The hide is particularly good for Great Spotted Woodpeckers, and today was no exception. We had a pair, plus an additional female visiting frequently throughout the morning. They seem to be still on chicks at present, as they were taking lots of food off; presumably to their nest. A number of over-ripe pears had been left out for the wildlife, and these seemed to be particularly appreciated by the females.  

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Lots of other woodland birds came & went - including Jackdaws, Chaffinches, Dunnock, Robins, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Collared Doves, Blackbirds & Goldfinches. I was particularily pleased to be able to get some shots of a pair of Stock Doves - not an easy bird to get a close view of! They are quite distinct from the more numerous Wood Pigeons when you take a closer look.

Stock Dove

Wood Pigeon

Collared Dove

Lots of Grey Squirrels were busy scampering too & fro, including one rascal who carted a whole apple off by himself. While we didn't get the Muntjac, a rather shy yearing female Fallow Deer did grace us with her presence - although she was clearly very nervous and didn't stay in the clearing for long. 

Fallow Deer

Lou also took the opportunity for a quick bit of garden centre & farm shop retail therapy - always good to keep the editorial staff on side! I'm slightly horrified by the stinkiness of the cheese she has come home with; it may possibly qualify as a new species in it's own right.

This afternoon, I went to check out a Treecreeper nest in one of the local parks. I always love watching these cute little birds hopping up trunks, like little wind-up mice! While I was there, I was lucky enough to see one of the two chicks fledge. The attentive parents were still kept busy stuffing it & it's sibling full of food. Lovely to see it taking it's first steps (or flaps?) into the big, wide world.

Treecreepers

Sierra Morena spring birding trip - day 1; a bedazzlement of Bee-eaters

Welcome to the first installment of my slightly time-lapse write up of this week's short birding trip to the beautiful Sierra Morena area of Southern Spain. I had planned to do live daily updates (with a little help from my editorial assistant). However, after a very stressful two-hour game of hunt the passport seriously eroded my already limited pre-trip sleep time on Monday night, I was so flustered that I managed to leave without my memory-card reader, or my spare battery!

After flying into Malaga on the first flight out on Tuesday morning, my 3 guests and I met our local guide, Agustin, for a pleasant drive up into the Sierra Morena mountain range. The trip got off to a great start, with plenty of sightings along the way, including Black Kites, Buzzards, Griffon Vultures and Imperial Eagles. 

Arriving into the area, we spent some time driving around the Finca looking for the local male Lynx, as Agustin had had an amazingly close view the previous evening, and it had been spotted again earlier in the day. No luck, but we did see lots of other wildlife, including Barn Swallows, Red-Rumped Swallows, House Martins plus Common, Pallid and White-Rumped Swifts, Ravens and Hoopoes. A highlight for me was spotting a tiny Hare Leveret by the side of the road. Obviously only a few days old, we weren't 100% sure that it was a hare rather than a rabbit, until it put it's enormous ears up - just before dashing off into the undergrowth!

We also had some great views (through a scope) of one of the pairs of Spanish Imperial Eagles on their nest, with the chick clearly visible. It's wonderful to see these iconic birds doing so well in this area. We also saw several Little Owl nest sites, and one of the birds close to the side of the road.

We then split into two small groups for the afternoon, to visit our choice of bird hides. I had a fantastic few hours watching a Bee-Eater colony at their nest sight on the river bank. I absolutely love Bee-Eaters; they are one of my favourite birds and always a pleasure to send time with. From my pop-up hide, I had over 20 birds directly in front of me most of the time, with well over a hundred zipping around in the fields & scrub.

Interesting displaying posture, which was followed but the male catching a bee and feeding it to the his partner

Passing a ladybird to the female

Bee Eaters copulating

There was lots of courtship behaviour going on, with the females begging the males for food, and pairs displaying to each other. Some pairs had clearly already established strong bonds already, spending all their time close together and much passing of food going on. We also witnessed lots of mating activity. It was really interesting to see how similar much of their courtship behaviour is to kingfisher - their close relatives - albeit passing insects to their mates as little billet-doux, rather than fish! I was also surprised to see them eating ladybirds, as well as the more familiar hoverflies, dragonflies - and of course, the eponymous bees.

Bee Eater with no blue colour

There was lots of other wildlife to be seen along the river bank, too. At times, there was a veritable frog chorus, with what sounded like hundreds croaking away merrily. Lots of waders in action too, including Little-Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper, Black Winged Stilt, several Little Egret and a Grey Heron fishing. A kingfisher passed by several times, and on one occasion, landed right by my hide - however as soon as I moved my lens to try for a shot, he was off in a flash of electric blue! It was also nice to see both types of Yellow Wag-tail & Hoopoes darting back and worth caring various insects to their waiting chicks.  

Little Ringed Plover

Common Sandpiper

Iberian Yellow Wag-tail

Yellow Wag-tail - Juvenile 

As the evening wore on, the softer light showed up the dazzling colours of the Bee-Eaters to best advantage. There is lots of variation in their plummage, with some being really intense azure blue, with vibrant coppery backs & wings, and other being much more slately blue-green on the body. It was interesting to also see one with no blue at all (photo shown). Needless to say, I took rather a lot of shots of the course of the session! 

My other guests,Piotr and Manny also had a great session in the Bebedero (woodland drinking pool) hide, with 5 visits from their target species, Hawfinch, as well as Jays, Nutchatch, Greenfinch and other woodland species. All in all, a brilliant first day. Check back tomorrow for the next installment! 

Hawfinch (I took this one at the same hide back in February)

Messing about on the river

As it's my day off, I was planning to have a wee bit of a lie-in this morning. But when Lou reported a thick ground fog after she got up at 6am to sort the mutts out, I couldn't resist venturing out for a little drive around Aldbourne, to see if I could  get any  shots of the hares or deer through the mist. There were certainly plenty of hares out & about, but they were markedly more skittish than usual (maybe due to the low visibility) and loped off at speed whenever I got within range. I also saw a couple of Roe Deer, which were also particularly nervous this morning. So, nothing to speak of in the way of photos, but a very pleasant start to the day.

After dropping Lou at work, I decided to check out a small private lake in South Swindon, as I haven't been for a while. The pair of Little Grebes are on eggs at the moment; the male was patrolling around, but he wasn't cooperating in terms of lining up a shot, either. I was starting to worry that this might be a theme for the day, when I managed to capture this shot of a Great Crested Grebe shaking water off after a dive. I really like the muted colours & steely light created by the thick mist.

Great-crested Grebe

This afternoon, it was back off to the Water Voles again, as planned. I spent a good 3 hours watching them, and finally got a few of the shots I've had in mind. Got a fair bit of processing & sorting through to keep my busy for a few evenings, now!

A smattering of voles

Wet and wild weather most of the weekend, coupled with an exhausting week at work put a bit of a crimp in my wildlife watching, so this will be a bit of a short post! 

We spent a couple of hours watching the Water Voles on Saturday, after the worst of the heavy showers had blown over. There are quite a few juveniles out and about now; we saw a couple of half-grown youngsters happily foraging - although still spending time with their mother- as well as a very tiny, black-coated baby just starting to come out of the burrow for short explorations.

Juvenile Water Vole

Young Water Vole

The adult female is remarkably relaxed, and came incredibly close to me, swimming past just yards from my nose! The male was also out and about, although he seemed to be on a bit of a mission - swimming up & down his stretch of stream at top-speed, a little like a furry wind-up bath toy. I've got a few more shots in mind after seeing their activity, so I'll be paying them another visit on my day off on Wednesday; weather permitting.

We also took another drive around the Aldbourne area, mainly to point out a few of the best fields for Brown Hares this season to my friend, Steve. We arrived in the area around 5.30, so it was a little bit earlier in the evening then our last couple of visits. The optimal time forgetting the hares active seems to be about 7pm onwards; we quickly spotted a number resting in the fields, but with their heads down & showing few signs of movement. However we did find one juvenile resting on the edge of the hedgerow right by the side of the road, so hopefully Steve got some decent shots before it spooked & dashed off into the cover of the oil-seed rape. As the evening wore on, the hares became more active - and we also had a few Roe Deer appearing out of the thickets to graze, too.  

Distant Brown Hare

The usual Pheasants, Red-legged Partridges, Red Kites etc were all present - and we had a close encounter with one of the local Buzzards, who glided along above the road just ahead of the car. We also spotted one of the small population of Jays; always a pleasure to see. 

Hares galore

Being back in full-time employment may help pay the bills, but it doesn't half impact on wildlife-watching time! At least the sunny evenings this week have meant that we've been able to get out & visit a few of the local spots after work, to get a bit of a nature fix! 

Driving around the country lanes through the downs in the hour or so before dusk has proved particularly productive this week, especially for mammals. On Friday evening we had at least 25 Brown Hares within a 3 or 4 mile radius, with up to 8 in the same field. Returning about the same time yesterday, we again saw over 20 in the same area - including one or two very close up. 

Can't see me

Into the sunset!

Both evenings we also saw lots of Roe Deer - approximately a dozen on Friday, and 7 or 8 on Thursday - all in small groups. The females are now looking heavily pregnant- although several still had last year's fawns with them. We also spotted one that had recently given birth as we could hear a fawn calling. Most of them are in the process of shedding their dense winter coats, so are looking a bit moth-eaten at present. However a pair of young bucks were looking quite smart in their reddish summer coats. 
We had a close view of a mature stag - still with velvet on his antlers - grazing with his mate. We  also spotted a trio of young Fallow Deer bucks grazing along the edge of a small copse. Their antlers have still got a fair bit of growing to do - just nubbs at the moment!

Roe Deer - Doe

Roe Deer - Pair (Doe very pregnant)

Roe Deer - Doe (Fawn in the Grass)

Lots of bird life to be seen, too. On Friday, we saw our first cuckoo of the year - although as it was in flight it took us a few minutes to work out what it was! The usual Red-legged Partridge & Pheasants were plentiful - although interestingly I did see a very dark, melanistic female pheasant; possibly the offspring of a blue-black male bird we spotted last year? As usual, plenty of raptors around too; several Red Kites, Buzzards and a pair of Kestrels.

On my day off on Thursday, I spend an hour or two watching the Water Voles again. The babies were out - still very small and surprisingly dark-coloured. It was fun seeing them splashing around, under the watchful eyes of their mum.

Water Vole

I also took a drive around the Aldbourne area, and was pleased to come across the main herd of Fallow Deer - over 45 of them, including one of the leutistic does & tan bucks. It's been a while since I've seen them together in such a large group!

Fallow Deer

Other interesting sightings this week included a Grasshopper Warbler, Pipestrelle Bats and a probable Honey Buzzard (in flight). Lou and Hurley also had a close encounter with one of the local urban foxes last night... it seemed quite interested in Hurley; maybe huskies look like a giant fox?